To Plant And Water

Have you ever grown a plant? To grow something, you have to plant something. You can set a pot of dirt out and only weeds whose seeds float into it will grow. But once you plant a seed beneath the soil, it can grow. However, growth is not automatic nor assured. The seed must be watered. If there is no water, the seed will do nothing. When water is present the seed starts to grow. Once a plant pushes shoots above the surface of the soil, growth is aided through the air and sun. The plant still needs water, but it also needs something only God can provide.

In Paul uses plant growth as an illustration of salvation and gospel proclamation (S).

1 Corinthians 3:6 NKJV

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

When it comes to the gospel, someone has to plant, someone has to water, but ultimately it is God who brings the increase! A person must hear the gospel, and so it must be shared or planted. Then they must often hear it again or be watered. But only God can cause that seed to take root and begin to grow! As growth occurs, that new believer needs what only God can provide.

The knowledge that God brings the growth does not release us from the responsibility of planting and watering.

Last week we learned about the gospel being confrontational. Today we will discuss three requirements for effective gospel proclamation.

Last week we saw the confronting of a false prophet. Today we learn of Paul and Barnabas Confronting false teaching in Antioch vv. 13-51a.

Last week we learned about the gospel being confrontational. Today we will discuss three requirements for effective gospel proclamation.

There are three requirements for effective gospel proclamation.

When these requirements are understood the believer is equipped to share Christ.

As Christ is proclaimed, the church will grow and be strengthened.

Requirement #1 for effective gospel proclamation…

1. When Proclaiming The Gospel There Must Be An Audience vv. 13-15

This is a pretty obvious statement. Yet I believe it is possible to get so focused on sharing the gospel that the audience is ignored.

What do I mean by that? Each time we share the gospel there are elements of the conversation that are entirely different than anything we have encountered before. If we let ourselves get into a rut, we can lose focus on the fact that we are witnessing to an eternal being or beings.

All mandates to preach the gospel include a target. says to make disciples of all nations. says to preach to every creature. says to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.

As we proclaim the gospel in obedience to these commands, we must pay attention to our audience.

There are two things that you need in an audience. First, you need…

You need…

a. A restricted audience vv. 13-14a

READ 13-14a

Paphos is where they had just confronted Elymas and led Sergius Paulus to Christ. They leave Paphos and they sail to Perga in Pamphylia (S). The reason many of the places add something like “in Pamphylia” is because there were multiple cities with the same name. Like there is a Lodi in Wisconsin and another in Ohio as well as one here. And so we say Lodi, CA. It is here at Perga that John Mark leaves.

This is all we know about John Mark’s leaving. We are given no details. We will see a comment made about his departure in ch. 15. Here all we are told is that he left and went home to Jerusalem. When we get to ch. 15 we are going to deal with this pretty extensively, for now we will just stick to what we are told. They are at Perga, John leaves, they travel to Antioch in Pisidia (S). This is a different Antioch from their sending church.

So this is their audience. The people of Antioch. Their audience is restricted here, in the sense that Paul and Barnabas are ministering to a specific group. This required that they know who the group was and at least some basic distinguishing factors about that group.

Restricted here in the sense that Paul and Barnabas were ministering to a specific group. This required that they know who the group was and at least some basic distinguishing factors about that group.

When proclaiming the gospel, we need to take our audience into account. We must know who they are and understand a little about them. Let me give you an example of what I mean. You don’t go out to lunch with a Muslim you are trying to reach and have a ham sandwich or pulled pork! You have a restricted audience.

This is something that missionaries all have to learn, the culture and customs of people. I am not saying have to learn these things to witnesses. What I am saying is that we need to keep our eyes open and discern how to approach the audience God has given us. Child vs. adult. Lawyer vs. mechanic.

Effective gospel proclamation requires an awareness of who we are addressing.

We must have an audience and we must recognize that it is a restricted audience.

Secondly, you need…

b. A ready audience vv. 14b-15

READ 14b-15

Paul and Barnabas come into the city, enter the synagogue on the Jewish day of worship, and sit down. Following their normal service pattern, the Law and Prophets are read. After this reading the rulers ask if Paul and Barnabas have anything to say. This is what I referenced last week about traveling Rabbi’s being allowed to speak.

Specifically, The leaders ask if they have a logos, a message of exhortation.

Exhortation – παράκλησις (paraklēsis) comfort; encouragement. Exhortation, the act of earnestly supporting or encouraging (a response or action).

Exhortation – παράκλησις (paraklēsis)

The leader of the synagogue is asking Paul and Barnabas if they have a message of comfort and encouragement to share! Can a door get more wide open than that? This is the point.

The audience here is willing to hear. They ask Paul and Barnabas to speak to them. We need to be very careful to share the gospel with those who are willing. Now, there are things that can be done and ways we can talk that will encourage openness, but we never want to force the gospel on someone. There is a fine balance here between taking advantage of opportunities and ramming the gospel down someone’s throat.

To proclaim the gospel effectively, speak to the willing.

Requirement #1. When proclaiming the gospel, there must be an… audience. Excellent. Requirement #2…

2. When Proclaiming The Gospel There Must Be An Ability vv. 16-41

This extensive section is Paul’s message. It is his longest recorded message.

As we work through this we will not be spending a great deal of time on any one verse. I want to make some comments here and there. Primarily I want to focus on Paul’s method, what he does in sharing the gospel in this particular situation and what we can learn from it.

His message has two basic parts. As I thought through them this week it occured to me that we can follow his pattern here.

As we think about Paul’s ability in proclaiming the gospel, I want to focus on two primary abilities.

#1…

a. The ability to connect vv. 16-25

What we are going to do here is read the section, then I will make some comments.

READ 16-25

What Paul does here is connect to the people through their shared history. He draws them in using something every Jew in that time was interested in, the Messiah.

Right from the beginning in v. 16 Paul’s words are designed to connect and draw them in. He addresses them as men of Israel and those who fear God. Remember where he is? The synagogue. Every single man present has just leaned in to hear what Paul says. Why? Because they want to be men and they fear God! Paul isn’t telling them anything new! He is connecting.

In v. 17 Paul covers around 500 years. God did three things for Israel. He chose them (; ; ), exalted them (; ), and brought them out of Egypt (Exodus). V. 18 reminds Israel of God’s patience and mercy in the wilderness (Ex. - Num.). V. 19 mentions God’s placement of them in the promised land (Deut. - Josh.). In v. 20 Paul covers the book of Judges and the beginning of . 21 takes us into Israel’s rejection of God ruling over them and their desire to be like the other nations with a king. God grants this request but ultimately removes Saul as we see in the beginning of v. 22. What is Paul doing with this history lesson? He is setting them up!

I picture these men nodding their heads and agreeing. It is in v. 22 that Paul begins to transition. God removed Saul and set up David.

David is best known for three things.

1 - Killing Goliath.

2 - Writing most of the Psalms.

- Committing adultery and murder.

David’s life was filled with incredible victory and abysmal failure. Yet this is God’s testimony of him here in v. 22 (READ).

WOW! Does this give anyone else hope? You see, the thing about David was that his greatest failures were followed by repentance, grief, forgiveness, and restoration.

To be used like David, we must repent like David.

He was a man after God’s own heart who did God’s will. Yes, he did it imperfectly. But his goal, his aim, his desire was to do God’s will.

Is that our desire? God said that he “found” David to be a man after His own heart. The idea of this is to discover through testing. God is testing us to reveal whether we will be men and women who desire His will regardless of situation or circumstance.

God chose to use this man, this flawed, broken, sinful man, to bring His Son into the world. That is what we see in v. 23. This was according to God’s promise that He made to David in 2 Samuel. It is at this point that Paul begins to get into dangerous territory as far as the Jews were concerned. Everything up until now was ok. But He states here that Jesus is the promised Savior from David’s descendants!

Paul’s mention of John the baptist in vv. 24-25 establishes another connection. Everyone had heard of him and knew him as a prophet. Paul is reminding these Jewish men that John had affirmed Jesus as the Messiah. John preached the need for repentance and at the end of his ministry he proclaimed that he was not the Messiah and was unworthy to untie the Messiah’s sandals. Turn to .

(p. 1221)

John 1:26–30 NKJV

John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’

John the baptist gave very clear testimony regarding the identity of Jesus. Paul is calling all this to the minds of his audience.

If we want to be effective in gospel proclamation, we must connect with those we share with. Why?

Personal connection earns us the right to be heard.

Paul had the ability to connect with his audience. He also had a second ability. #2…

b. The ability to convince vv. 26-41

Remember how Paul started in v. 16? He mirrors that a little bit here. He is drawing them back in, building on the connection he has made as he reaches the climax of his message.

The connection that Paul built has a purpose, that purpose is to have an opportunity for gospel proclamation. Let’s read these verses.

READ vv. 26-41

In v. 26 Paul is making this personal. Remember, the synagogue leaders asked for a message of comfort and encouragement. Here Paul tells them that the message they want, is the message of salvation. This salvation comes through the David’s promised descendant, the Savior Jesus Christ!

In vv. 27-29 Paul runs them through the events of Jesus death and burial. In doing so he brings out some key points. The first one would be that They didn’t know Christ.

Know – ἀγνοέω (agnoeō) be ignorant; not to know. To disregard, refuse to acknowledge.

Know – ἀγνοέω (agnoeō)

Where we get agnostic. Not that they weren’t aware of who Jesus was, they willingly chose to disregard it!

He wasn’t all they chose to disregard, they disregarded the prophets as well. Through this disregard they fulfilled what the prophets wrote in condemning Jesus. Jesus was innocent, yet they persuaded Pilate to kill him. v. 29 tells us that everything they did merely fulfilled prophecy about Jesus, even to the tomb where they laid Him!

Look back up at v. 15. These men had just been reading from the prophets! Paul is saying, “what you read about each week? Jesus fulfilled that!”

Already in the book of Acts we have seen that gospel presentations center on the resurrection. This one is no different. v. 30 declares the fact of His resurrection. V. 31 states the evidence of his resurrection. Many people saw Him! vv. 32-33 reiterate that everything surrounding the life and ministry of Jesus was fulfilling the promises made by God to the Israelites. In vv. 33-35 Paul quotes two Psalms and a passage from Isaiah. These quotations serve to emphasize the deity of Christ, His connection to David, and the prophetic nature of His death, burial, and resurrection.

v. 29 – The things done to Christ were all prophesied ahead of time.

vv. 36-37 show the superiority of Christ over David. David’s body turned back into dust, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and so His body never saw corruption.

Because of the superiority of Christ, because of His death, burial, and resurrection, because His entire life fulfilled prophecy, because of all these things, forgiveness is found in Jesus.

v. 38 – forgiveness of sins is only found through Jesus Christ!

v. 38 declares that Forgiveness of sins is only found through Jesus Christ! v. 39 further declares that faith in Christ brings justification. Christ justifies us from things the Law was incapable of justifying us from! This highlights the folly of trying to earn salvation.

v. 39 – Christ justifies us from things the Law was incapable of justifying us from.

Here Paul describes two responses to the gospel. Response #1 - Believe, be justified and forgiven. We see this in vv. 38-39.

But there is a second response to the gospel. Response #2 - Unbelief and hatred leading to death. We see this in vv. 40-41.

Paul is preaching to convince his audience!

He is leading them to the conclusion he wants them to make. There is nothing wrong with this. We absolutely want people to place their faith in Christ. To that end we present the truth about what happens when we don’t believe.

Now, let me be clear. We do not convict. The Holy Spirit does the convicting. However, He is going to use His Word to do that and it is our job to get the Word out there.

Paul speaks powerfully, and he speaks persuasively because his goal is to convince these men that they need Jesus!

Effective gospel proclamation is focused on conversion.

We want to see people saved! Right? Salvation only comes through Jesus Christ.

When proclaiming the gospel there must be an

So far we have looked at two requirements. First, when proclaiming the gospel there must be an? Audience. Secondly, when proclaiming the gospel there must be an? Ability.

Finally, Requirement #3…

3. When Proclaiming The Gospel There Must Be An Answer vv. 42-51a

We already noted that Paul is proclaiming the gospel with the desire that these men respond with faith. He has warned that that failure to believe in Christ will result in death. Now we get to find out the result of his preaching.

How will these men respond to the message they have heard?

In the final verses we will consider this morning Paul outlines four responses or answers to the proclamation of the gospel.

There are four responses or answers to the proclamation of the gospel.

The answers to the proclamation of the gospel depend on the heart of the individual. Where they are at spiritually determines their answer. First we find those who…

a. Answered with faithfulness vv. 42-43

READ vv. 42-43

Here we have two groups of people who want to hear what Paul is preaching. The first group is the Gentiles. They approach Paul and Barnabas and beg to hear this message the next week.

Begged – παρακαλέω (parakaleō) urge; implore; exhort. To entreat, ask for or request earnestly.

Begged – παρακαλέω (parakaleō)

This is a serious, deep desire to hear the message of salvation.

The second group of people who want to hear are the Jews and proselytes. Proselytes are non-Jewish people who have converted to the religion of Judaism. After everyone leaves the synagogue, many of these people follow Paul and Barnabas. “Many” here is the word used for multitude.

These are serious followers of God who believe what Paul had spoken. Through talking with them Paul and Barnabas convince them to faithfully continue in the grace of God. Though not explicitly stated, the implication here is that these men were believers.

When we share the gospel with a group of people, the chances are that some are already believers. For these ones, the proclamation of the gospel will encourage and strengthen them, inspiring greater faithfulness. That is what we see here.

This is one response to the gospel message, greater faithfulness. This is what the first Sunday of the month is for those of us here at Grace who know Christ as Savior. I am not trying to get you saved again, it is a once for all thing. However, being reminded of what Christ has done for us inspires us to greater faithfulness!

Effective gospel proclamation inspires faithfulness in believers.

So this is the first response we see here. The gospel message is answered with faithfulness.

Secondly, there are those who…

b. Answered with false teaching vv. 44-47

READ vv. 44-47

Here we encounter a repeated problem for the Jewish religious leaders, envy. Mathew 27:18 tells us that one of the major reasons behind Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion was the envy of the Jewish leaders.

In this instance they are envious because of the crowd that comes together to hear the message from God (vv. 44-45)! Isn’t this something that should make them happy? After all, they are the ones who asked for this message to be preached in the first place!

Envy – ζῆλος (zēlos)

In this instance they are envious because of the crowd that comes together to hear the message from God! Isn’t this something that should make them happy? After all, they are the ones who asked for this message to be preached in the first place!

Their envy causes them to essentially teach against the gospel. They are contradicting, saying the opposite. They even go so far as to blaspheme! This is directed towards God Himself!

These Jewish leaders are in a green haze of jealousy and it has led them to oppose God!

Their behavior emboldens Paul and Barnabas. In v. 46 they speak frightening words. Rejection of the gospel is a rejection of eternal life!

Because the Jews rejected the gospel, God sent Paul and Barnabas to the Gentiles. They don’t waste their time arguing with these false teachers! They move on. While that isn’t always the case, it is here. We need to be discerning to know when to leave and when to stay.

V. 47 reminds the Jewish leaders and us that Gentile salvation has always been part of God's plan. This is a quotation from .

What these verses remind us to be aware of is that gospel proclamation will be opposed by false teaching.

The gospel demands boldness in the face of false teaching.

There will be those who contradict what we say. How will we respond?

What size was the city?

The gospel message is answered with faithfulness and it is answered with false teaching. Thirdly are those who…

Thirdly are those who…

c. Answered with faith vv. 48-49

READ vv. 48-49

I love the Gentiles three-fold reaction here.

1 - They are glad!

2 - They glorify the Lord for His desire that they be saved!

3 - Those chosen by God, believe!

Often in this verse much is made of the word “appointed”. That’s as it should be, it is an important word.

Appointed – τάσσομαι (tassomai) determine; designate. To be assigned, conceived of as being put into place or position.

Appointed – τάσσομαι (tassomai)

This is a Biblical doctrine. tells us that we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world!

However, sometimes people focus so much on the word “appointed” that they ignore the word “believed.”

While it is completely true that God chooses us, He elects us and appoints us to salvation. However, it is also true that man has a responsibility to believe and according to we are condemned if we do not believe.

God is 100% sovereign and man is 100% responsible. And somehow, in the Divine mind of God, those two things are not contradictory.

These Gentiles who hear the message respond with faith.

The result of all this is that the word of the Lord, the message of the gospel, begins to spread through the whole region!

People are coming to Christ!

The gospel message must be met with belief.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

The gospel message is answered with faithfulness, with false teaching, and with faith.

Finally there are those who…

d. Answered with force vv. 50-51a

READ vv. 50-51a

The Gentiles are rejoicing, glorifying God, and believing. Meanwhile, the Jews are stepping up the persecution. They get everyone stirred up.

Stirred up – παροτρύνω (parotrynō) stir up; incite. To inflame, to arouse or excite feelings and passions.

Stirred up – παροτρύνω (parotrynō)

The people they stir up are referred to as devout. They certainly are not devoted to Christ! They are people who look good on the outside, but do not truly follow the Lord. “Prominent” is the idea of highly respected. They also gather the chief men of the city.

They gather up all the important and influential people. Why? To get rid of Paul and Barnabas.

They engage in deliberate and targeted persecution. The end result is that Paul and Barnabas are forced to leave that area.

Remember, The persecution is all motivated by envy!

In v. 51 Paul and Barnabas shake the dust of their feet off against the city. This is a practice showing extreme disfavor and in the gospels the disciples were instructed to do this meaning that God would judge that city.

This final reaction is to attempt to silence the one who proclaims the gospel.

Effective gospel preaching will be opposed.

We need to be ready for this! We need to be prepared for the leaders to unite against us. Not so that we can fight back, but so we can be bold and clear in our proclamation of the gospel.

Conclusion

Each and every one of us has a mandate from God to preach the gospel.

What we have examined are the requirements if we are to proclaim the gospel effectively.

Requirement #1.

Acts 13:13–51a NKJV

Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.” Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness. And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment. “After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus— after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’ “Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent. For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead. He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’ “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised up saw no corruption. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you: ‘Behold, you despisers, Marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, A work which you will by no means believe, Though one were to declare it to you.’ ” So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium.

When proclaiming the gospel there must be an? Audience

We cannot proclaim the gospel without someone to proclaim it to. As we proclaim the gospel, we must be aware of who our audience is. We must also ensure that they are willing to hear what we are proclaiming. Failure in either of these points can lead to a closed door. While we want to avoid that, we must also not fear it. Sometimes we are the seed planter, sometimes we are the waterer. But we must always be careful and deliberate.

Requirement #2.

When proclaiming the gospel there must be an? Ability

We saw in Paul a two-fold ability. He had the ability to connect, which enhanced his ability to convince. Building a connecting with our audience earns us a platform from which to declare Christ. As we share the gospel we are proclaiming Christ with the goal of having this person come to Him. We want to present the Word of God so the Holy Spirit can use it to convict and draw.

Requirement #3.

When proclaiming the gospel there must be an? Answer

As believers, we rejoice when the gospel is preached. It strengthens our faith. The desire in gospel presentation is that others will respond with faith. We recognize that some will respond with false teaching instead. There will always be opposition to the gospel. Those who do not know Christ will contradict and fight against us. To the opposition we must respond with faithful boldness as we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ when and where He calls us.

May we be faithful in proclaiming the gospel.

May we do all we can to proclaim the gospel effectively.

May Christ be glorified as we share Him with a world in need.

“Ancient Words”

Related Media

Related Sermons